the fall of singapore...•i have to mention this fine fellow who had a very special place in my...

The Fall of Singapore

5:15 pm, Sunday, 15th

February 1942

Probus Club of Ottawa – Rideau Valley

Guy Goodman 2013.11.06

The audio of this talk is at http://www.probusorv.org/13.11.06Goodman.mp3.

Due to a technical glitch with the audio system, there was a huge amount of

distortion in the recording. Our audio man Mike has done a great job in

filtering and editing it to the point where, when it was posted on 13.12.05, most

of it was intelligible, although it was hard work in places.

Mike continues to try to improve the quality but, in the mean time, this

compilation of the slides and expanded speaker notes has been posted to help

those interested with the bits that are too difficult.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill described the

fall of Singapore as

“the worst disaster and largest

capitulation in British history”

Just after 5:15 pm on Sunday, 15th February,

1942, Lieutenant General Arthur Percival,

Commander in Chief, surrendered unconditionally

to the Japanese

Winston Churchill described this event as

“the worst disaster and largest

capitulation in British history”

• How did I get involved in all this? When I was cleaning out my

father’s house after he died in 1983, I came across this small binder.

• It contained two documents:

• The first was a 59 page report, written by my father, describing

the journey undertaken by a group of 17 men as they escaped

from Singapore to Sumatra

Albert Charles Goodman,

44458, Lt., RA

• How did I get involved in all this? When I was cleaning out my father’s

house after he died in 1983, I came across this small binder.


• The first was a 59 page report, written by my father, describing the

journey undertaken by a group of 17 men as they escaped from

Singapore to Sumatra

• And here he is, Albert Charles Goodman, in the Royal

Artillery and, at the time of the story, a Lieutenant

Thomas Edward Pickard,

164295, Capt., RA

• How did I get involved in all this? When I was cleaning out my father’s

house after he died in 1983, I came across this small binder.


• The first was a 59 page report, written by my father, describing the

journey undertaken by a group of 17 men as they escaped from

Singapore to Sumatra

• And here he is, Albert Charles Goodman, in the Royal Artillery

and, at the time of the story, a Lieutenant

• The second was a 15 page report by Thomas Edward Pickard,

also in the RA and, at the time of the story, a Captain, which

describes his experiences in the last few days before the

capitulation of Singapore

Ronald Frederick Hailwood,

4757382, Cpl., Tank Corps, Burma

• I have to mention this fine fellow who had a very special place in

my life, Ronald Frederick Hailwood

• He wasn’t actually in Singapore but he served in the Tank Corps in

Burma

• When he went off to win the war for Britain, he left behind a

pregnant wife who, a few months later, gave birth to a little baby girl

• When Fred came back from the war, she was 3½ years old

• 21 years later, when I asked him for his daughter’s hand in

marriage (laughter), he said “Oh, that would be nice”.

• I think he liked me and I certainly liked him a lot

• This is Joe Cusselle. I found his story on a website and he

features later on in our story

• He actually served in the same fort as my father and came within a

whisker of escaping – but he didn’t and was captured

• However, he did survive, as you can see from this picture which

was clearly taken well after the war

• More on him later

William Godfrey Soar,

148308, 2nd Lt, RA

• This is William Gregory Soar

• Many of you will know his son John, who is a member of this

Probus club, and who actually gave us a talk on “Canada Day,

African Style” in July last year

• Bill Soar was his father and was also in the RA and was an anti-

aircraft gunner

• He was captured by the Japanese and sent to unload Japanese

ships in Saigon and then to work on the railway in “Bridge on the

River Kwai” country

William Godfrey Soar,

148308, 2nd Lt, RA

His grave in Kanchanaburi

Bridge on the River Kwai

We shall

remember them

• This is William Gregory Soar

• Many of you will know his son John, who is a member of this Probus

club, and who actually gave us a talk on “Canada Day, African Style” in

July last year

• Bill Soar was also in the RA and was an anti-aircraft gunner

• He was captured by the Japanese and sent to unload Japanese ships in

Saigon and then to work on the railway in “Bridge on the River Kwai”

country

• He did not survive and this is a picture of his grave in

Kanchanaburi

• Credits

• Background

• Capitulation

• Escape

Singapore

Japan

French

Indo-China

Rengat, Sumatra

Outline of Talk • First I’ll credit some people who provided a lot of very helpful information

• Then I’ll give a little bit of the background of how we came to be where we

were in February 1942

• People have written 800 page books on this

• I will condense it into 2 slides so it shouldn’t take too long

• Next we’ll go through Pickard’s story from the arrival of the Japanese in

Singapore until capitulation and slightly beyond

• And finally my father’s story of their escape

Geography • Singapore, front and centre

• Rengat, Sumatra, the destination of people escaping from

Singapore

• French Indochina, much closer to Singapore than Japan is

• Hong Kong and Manila

• and, of course, Japan, some 3300 miles from Singapore

This slide was omitted from the talk but is added in the web version for the

convenience of any who might be interested in getting more detailed information

Resources

•. THE HISTORY OF COAST ARTILLERY IN THE BRITISH ARMY – COL. K. W. MAURICE-JONES, D.S.O., late R.A. - (War Museum Library through Ottawa Public Library)

• History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery The Far East Theatre 1941-46 - General Sir Martin Farndale, KCB - (Extracts from Derek Barton - see below)

• SINGAPORE 1942. BRITAIN’S GREATEST DEFEAT - Alan Warren - (Ottawa Public Library)

• THE DEFENCE and FALL of SINGAPORE 1940-1942 – Brian P. Farrell - (Toronto Public Library through Ottawa Public Library)

• http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-

theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/ - contributor Derek Barton

• http://www.ra39-45.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/page2.html - webmaster Derek Barton

• http://www.fortsiloso.com/ - webmaster Peter Stubbs

• http://www.sgpyke.co.uk/dad/pompong%20trip.htm - webmaster Stan Pyke

• Wikipedia, Google Maps, Bing Maps etc

http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/20507-history-of-the-royal-artillery-regt-far-east-theatre-1941-46-by-farndale/http://www.ra39-45.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/page2.htmlhttp://www.ra39-45.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/page2.htmlhttp://www.ra39-45.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/page2.htmlhttp:///http://www.fortsiloso.com/http://www.sgpyke.co.uk/dad/pompong trip.htm

Credits • Derek Barton

• Peter Stubbs

• Stan Pyke

Credits

• Derek Barton - provided tremendously useful information on

the locations of the big gun forts in Singapore

• Peter Stubbs - provided valuable information on the AMTB

forts, particularly in the Keppel Harbour area and also provided

Joe Cusselle’s story

• Stan Pyke – provided his own interesting story as well as

details of two small islands that didn’t appear on GoogleMaps,

Bing Maps, Mapquest etc

Why Was Singapore so Important for

Britain?

• British East India Company

• Population grew

• Japanese rise as industrial power

• Major British Naval Base for Far East

Why Was Singapore so Important for

Britain?

• British East India Company – 1819. Raffles gained

control of Singapore for the British East India Company

• They did a lot of trading in the Far East

Population grew from negligible in 1819 to about

700,000 in 1938

Japanese rise as industrial power led to Imperial

aspirations, need for resources controlled by West,

specifically tin, oil, rubber

Major British Naval Base for Far East

Key Factors in First Half of 20th Century (1)

• 1911 Anglo-Japanese Alliance Treaty

• Treaty terminated 1923

• Economies dominant after heavy costs of WW1

• 1921/2 Washington agreement

• 1919 “10 year rule”

• Britain selected Singapore as their main naval base in

Far East

• Built slowly in 20s and 30s

• Japan renounced Washington agreement in 1936


• 1911 Anglo-Japanese Alliance Treaty so Japanese imperial

aspirations posed no risk during WW1

• Treaty terminated 1923, Canadian pressure

• Canadians concerned that, if Japan attacked the US,

Canada would be drawn in and would be on the

opposite side to Britain

Need for economies dominant after heavy costs of WW1

1921/2 Washington agreement to limit size of navies

1919 “10 year rule” – notion that no major war for 10 years

Japanese aspirations growing, Britain selected Singapore

as main naval base in Far East

• Built slowly in 20s and 30s, economies forced

reductions and delays, finally opened 1938

Japan renounced Washington agreement in 1936, clear

indication of their intentions


• By June 1940 Britain was at war with Germany and Italy

• Needed all available resources for these two fronts

• In September 1940, Japan invaded French Indochina

(Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam)

• Recognized that Japan would probably attack

Singapore through southern Siam and northern Malaya

• London did not want to be the first to invade Siam

• Churchill’s Far East priorities


• By June 1940 Britain was at war with Germany and Italy

• Needed all available resources for these two fronts

In September 1940, Japan invaded French Indochina

(Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam) – shown in map earlier

Because of this, Britain now recognized that Japan

probably would attack Singapore through southern

Siam and northern Malaya, instead of, or as well as, by

sea from the south

For political reasons, London did not want to be the

first to invade Siam, which, among other decisions,

killed their chances of successfully defending Malaya

Churchill was between a rock and a hard place in the

Far East so his strategy was to encourage the US to

join the war, thereby discouraging Japan from doing so

Japan Strikes

• On December 8th 1941, Japan launched simultaneous

strikes against

• Pearl Harbour

• Hong Kong

• Manila

• Southern Siam and northern Malaya

• And bombed Singapore

• Complete surprise, not even an air raid warning

• Japanese reached Singapore on February 8, 1942

Japan Strikes

• On December 8th 1941, Japan launched simultaneous

strikes against

• Pearl Harbour

and Hong Kong

• and Manila

• and Southern Siam

• and northern Malaya

And bombed Singapore

• Singapore was caught completely by surprise by

this, and the air raid warning system wasn’t even

manned at the time

Japanese reached Singapore on February 8, 1942

Malaya

Singapore

Source:

Farndale

Next slide

Singapore Defences

• Southern tip of Malaya in red and Singapore yellow

• Fixed defences are shaded in blue (big guns, 6”, 9.2”, 15”) –

picture from Derek Barton

Naval base, at top, in green

And Keppel Harbour, at bottom, also in green

Next slide shows red area enlarged

Gun Sites (1)

Triangular island is Pulau Blakang Mati – about a third of our story

takes place there

• Pulau means Island so often I’ll leave it out

Small island between Blakang Mati and main island of Singapore

is Pulau Brani

Berlayer Pier

Siloso Point Berhala Reping

Pulau Hantu

Anti-Motor Torpedo Boat (AMTB) Batteries

Faber Fire Command

Gun Sites (2)

• Fixed defences augmented by AMTB (Anti Motor Torpedo Boat) batteries

Much smaller guns, 6 and 12 pounders in our story

Three Western Forts in red (Berlayer, Hantu, Siloso Point),

under command of Tom Pickard

Berhala Reping in green, under command of Capt Bill Richey

• My father was 2nd in command

This next slide shows that Reping is now the 6th hole of the

Sentosa Golf Club’s Serapong course – father would have approved

Berhala Reping is now the 6th hole of the Sentosa Golf Club’s

Serapong Course!

The Capitulation Source – Capt Tom Pickard’s Report

Written - much later, in Ceylon

Sunday, 8 Feb • Invasion of Singapore started

Wednesday, 11 Feb • Pickard’s report starts in detail

• Berlayer area heavy shelling - no material damage

Thursday, 12 Feb • Numerous high-level bombing raids

• All Secret and Confidential papers burnt

Night Thursday/Friday, 12/13 Feb • Very heavy artillery bombardment taking place to the

north and northwest on Singapore island

Now we pick up Tom Pickard’s story, which he

actually wrote in Ceylon, after it was all over

Sunday 8th Feb - Japanese start to invade Singapore

Wednesday, the 11th - Pickard’s report starts in detail

• Berlayer area heavy shelling - no material damage

Thursday, 12 Feb

• Numerous high-level bombing raids both in the

morning and later in the day

Early in the morning, Pickard was ordered to burn all

Secret and Confidential papers

Night Thursday/Friday, 12/13 Feb

• Very heavy artillery bombardment taking place

to the north and northwest on Singapore island

Friday, 13 Feb (1)

• Situation obviously desperate

• Very heavy air attacks and shelling from the

ground

• About 2 pm the Japanese hit Labrador 6” Battery

• One gun destroyed and 25 casualties

• About 2 pm Pickard destroyed all remaining

papers, security books etc except nominal and

next-of-kin rolls

Friday, 13 Feb (1)

• Situation obviously desperate

• Very heavy air attacks and shelling from the ground

About 2 pm the Japanese hit Labrador 6” Battery

• Right next door to Berlayer

• One gun destroyed and 25 casualties

About the same time, Pickard received orders to

destroy all the rest of his papers, security books etc

except nominal and next-of-kin rolls

Friday, 13 Feb (Evening)

Evacuation Preparations

• Pickard would get 30 minutes notice to demolish

Berlayer and Hantu

• He would arrange for evacuation of Berlayer and Hantu

crews to Blakang Mati (after demolitions) then join forces

with Capt Bill Richey at Berhala Reping

Tonkang

Merriam-Webster: a large native boat or junk used in the

East Indies in fishing and in local trading

Tonkangs feature significantly in our story

A tonkang was normally moored at Hantu

Friday, 13 Feb (Evening)

Evacuation Preparations

Pickard would get 30 minutes notice from HQ to demolish Berlayer and Hantu

He would arrange for evacuation of Berlayer and Hantu

crews to Blakang Mati (after demolitions were complete) then

join forces with Capt Bill Richey at Berhala Reping

Tonkang • Merriam-Webster: a large native boat or junk used in the East Indies in fishing and in local trading

Tonkangs feature significantly in our story, usually open

and big enough for about 20 men, equipment and supplies

A tonkang was normally moored at Hantu for transportation

between the 3 Western Forts

Berlayer Pier


Pulau Hantu


Faber Fire Command

Friday, 13 Feb (Evening/Night)

Friday, 13 Feb (Evening/Night)

• First job was to move the tonkang from Hantu to

Berlayer (curly arrow on slide)

• Pickard had asked HQ to warn beach defences not to

fire on tonkang coming from Hantu . . .

• . . . but it was fired on anyway; no injury but

bottom hinge shot away from rudder

• Next Pickard assigned people to demolish the guns,

magazines, engine rooms, searchlights, phones etc

• About 11:50 pm he got the order to demolish everything

and fall back on Berhala Reping

• All the plans went into action

Berlayer Pier


Pulau Hantu


Faber Fire Command

Saturday, 14th Feb (Very Wee Small Hours)


• At Berlayer, those not assigned to demolitions marched down

to pier with all small arms, machine guns, hand grenades, rations

etc

• Once the fort was clear, those assigned to demolitions carried

out their assignments, then got down to pier within 15 minutes

All got on tonkang and left for Siloso Point

• Too many men at Berlayer to fit in tonkang so needed to tow

extra boat for the rest

• Hantu “blew everything” when they saw Pickard’s boat leave

Berlayer, as pre-arranged

• Due to the broken rudder hinge, the boat and tow were

extremely difficult to manage in fast current, due hinge damaged

• Pickard sat with legs over the stern to keep rudder central

with his left foot

• Awkward arrival at Siloso pier, towed boat ran into tonkang

stern

• Crushed Pickard’s left thigh (flesh only) just above the knee

Berlayer Pier


Pulau Hantu


Faber Fire Command



At Siloso, Lt Prentis got everybody off with equipment

and supplies, and started towards Berhala Reping

Berlayer Pier


Pulau Hantu


Faber Fire Command



At Siloso, Lt Prentis got everybody off with equipment and

supplies, and started towards Berhala Reping

Tonkang went to pick up all from Hantu, returned to

Siloso by about 1:30 am

Berlayer Pier


Pulau Hantu


Faber Fire Command

Siloso Point to Berhala Reping

approx 3½ km as the crow flies



At Siloso, Lt Prentis got everybody off with equipment and

supplies, and started towards Berhala Reping

Tonkang went to pick up all from Hantu, returned to Siloso by

about 1:30 am

All at Siloso Point marched to Berhala Reping (I assume

the Siloso Battery had been demolished by then)

The straight line distance from Siloso to Reping was

about 3½ km but they had a great deal to carry and this

wasn’t a straight paved road

• Delayed en route to Berhala Reping by some sort of

(confused) exercise

• Had an hours sleep, could have had more but woken

because of (false) report of Japanese at Siloso

Saturday, 13 Feb (Morning)

6:30 am, Saturday, 14 Feb, Arrival Berhala Reping

• Met by Lt A. C. Goodman

• Slept for a few hours, felt better but . . .

• . . . depressed at having had to demolish guns

without firing a single round at the enemy

Saturday, 14 Feb (Small Hours)

• Goodman written comment:

“Captain Pickard was officially in charge of this party,

though I must say that when I saw him on his arrival he

was in a state of collapse and did not look capable of

taking charge of a sheet-changing party, let alone

bringing in a bunch of men from three forts, as he had

done.”

Saturday, 14 Feb (Daylight Hours)

• Met Capt Bill Richey, OC Reping, and was given a

position on the perimeter to defend

• About 200 officers and men at Reping, joined by a Lt

Tranter (Aus) and 12 men, canoed from Singapore Island

• Serapong - Connaught - Reping area (Blakang Mati east

end) subject to several high-level bombing attacks in the

morning and Singapore all day

Saturday, 14 Feb (Daylight Hours)

• Pickard met Capt Bill Richey, OC Reping, and was given

a position on the perimeter to defend

About 200 officers and men at Reping, joined by a Lt

Tranter (Aus) and 12 men, canoed from Singapore Island

In the morning, the area highlighted here in yellow,

(Serapong, Connaught and Reping) was subject to several

high-level bombing attacks in the morning

• and ditto for Singapore all day

Saturday, 14 Feb (Late Afternoon)

• Richey was informed that Japanese were between

Serapong and Reping (later heard that there were no

Japanese at all on Blakang Mati, 2nd false report)

• Due this report, Richey decided to blow guns and

magazines – Pickard assisted

Interlude - The Curlew

• Three men with sea-going qualifications

• Sunday morning, spotted the Curlew

• All perfect except gearbox damaged

• Lashed tonkang alongside, bow to stern, didn’t work

• Starting about 10:30 pm, started to load all men and

supplies

• Pickard not feeling too good

• Only about 5 or 6 hours sleep in the last week

• Leg so painful he could hardly stand on it

• Next morning (Monday), Curlew declared unrepairable

and unusable

Interlude - The Curlew (1)

• They were lucky to have three men with maritime

qualifications:

• Lt Armstrong qualified sea-going engineer with 1st

class ticket; 2/Lt Crisp also Master Mariner; Sgt Jones

diesel engineer

Sunday morning, 15th February, thought they had found

the perfect escape transportation, a small diesel ship, the

Curlew, (70 – 80 t), lying between Blakang Mati and Brani

All perfect except gearbox damaged, stuck in reverse

• Couldn’t steer her at all

Tried lashing tonkang alongside, bow to stern, to

provide steering (so tonkang going forwards) but that

didn’t work either as the tonkang rudder didn’t have the

necessary authority to steer the much larger boat

Interlude - The Curlew (2)

Starting about 10:30 pm that night, started to load all

men, equipment and supplies

Pickard “not feeling too good”

Only about 5 or 6 hours sleep in the last week

Leg so painful he could hardly stand on it

After a full day’s work, with the men and supplies still

on board, all the engineering men who had been involved

declared, during the morning of Monday the 16th, that it

was unrepairable without major machine shop work and

thus unusable

Sunday, 15 Feb

• Morning bright and clear

• Terrific hammering of Singapore recommenced

• All efforts on Curlew

• Found a beat up tonkang to use as ferry to Curlew and

got men to patch it up while waiting

• About 6 pm, “ominously quiet” in Singapore

• A Sapper arrived, had just blown up Battle HQ and

informed that C in C had surrendered unconditionally

• Richey sent Goodman to Connaught to get escape

permission, came back 3 hours later with chit

Sunday, 15 Feb

• The morning was bright and clear and the terrific

hammering of Singapore started all over again

I just told you about the efforts on the Curlew but I

didn’t mention that they had found a beat up tonkang to

use as ferry between the pier and the Curlew

• While they were waiting for the engineering types to

do their job on the Curlew all the men set to and

patched it up

About 6 pm, it all went “ominously quiet” in Singapore

• They were told by a Sapper who arrived, having just

blown up Battle HQ, that C in C had surrendered

unconditionally – it was all over

Richey sent Goodman to Connaught to get escape

permission, came back 3 hours later with chit

Boom and Gate

Berhala Reping

Boom and Gate

• Once they were ready to go, their first challenge would

be to get out through a gate in the boom . . .

. . . which, as far as I can tell, is here, shaded in yellow

Reping is pretty close to the boom

Sunday, 15 Feb (Evening/Night)

• Gradually numbers of both officers and men opted for

the risks of surrender over those of attempting escape

• Summary in a moment

• Also other events which reduced the numbers, e.g.

• After tonkang failed to steer Curlew, Capt Richey

assigned to join those men already in it and try to

get away

Sunday, 15 Feb (Evening/Night)

• Starting that evening, as news and events seemed at

times to get worse, gradually numbers of both officers

and men lost heart, opting for the risks of surrender over

those of attempting escape

I’ll summarise those in a moment, along with other

events which reduced the numbers of men remaining,

such as:

After tonkang failed to steer Curlew, they felt they

had no further use for it so Capt Richey was assigned

to join those men already in it and try to get away

Monday, 16 Feb (About 3 am)

On Board Curlew

• “Goodman (splendid chap) produced a small flask of

Johnnie Walker, we had a nip each”

Monday, 16 Feb (Morning)

• Pickard writes “After the terrific din of the previous few

days, the silence was almost uncanny. White flags were

flying all over Singapore and in the kampongs of the

neighbouring islands”

• Japanese aircraft flew low overhead, thought we had

been spotted

• More men lost heart, some went off to surrender

• Others “coming through the jungle wanted to join us”

• Pickard decision: anyone who left would not be allowed

back; due shortage of space no more would be allowed to

join

Monday, 16 Feb (Later Morning)

• Since Curlew unusable, Armstrong and Hall went to

Pulau Brani to see if they could find some small boats

• They found three tonkangs, shot up and leaking

badly, but serviceable

• Men worked hard to repair them

• Earlier had seen at least 27 Japanese boats, loaded with

troops, going out of the boom gate

• Several more men became discouraged about trying

to escape

Monday, 16 Feb (Later Morning)

• Since Curlew unusable, Armstrong and Hall went to

Pulau Brani to see if they could find some small boats

They found three tonkangs, shot up and leaking

badly, but serviceable

• Brought them back to Reping

• Men had new heart and worked hard to repair them

Earlier had seen at least 27 Japanese whalers, loaded

with troops, going out of the boom gate

• Several more men became discouraged about trying

to escape, Prentis and Crisp were wavering

Monday, 16 Feb (Afternoon/Evening)

• Pickard speech: every man had to decide within 10

minutes whether to go or not – wow!

• Risks

• might be shot at going through the boom gate

• long sea trip in open boat, without charts

• only sketchy knowledge of minefields

• Pickard couldn’t guarantee any man’s safety

• He was putting himself under orders of Armstrong who

was appointed skipper of the first boat

• Result:

• Most remaining decided to try to escape

• About 27 others decided to stay and surrender

How Many Wanted to Escape?

• By Sat 14th, well over 200 officers and men on Reping

• Sun 15th, Lt Carter, 50 BOR and all IOR went to

Connaught

• Wee small hours, Mon 16th, Capt Richey and about 15

others left Curlew in tonkang to try to escape

• Several more subsequently decided escape attempt was

riskier than surrendering:

• Sun 15th night, 2/Lt Walker and about 20 men and

NCOs

• Mon 16th morning, about 30 more

• Later that afternoon, Prentis, Crisp and about 25

others

• Down to 50 - 60 in total, re-arranged between 3 tonkangs

How Many Wanted to Escape?

• By Sat 14th, well over 200 officers and men were on Reping

Sun 15th, Lt Carter, 50 BOR and all IOR went to Connaught

to relieve the congestion at Reping

Wee small hours, Mon 16th, Capt Richey and about 15

others left Curlew in tonkang to try to escape

Several more subsequently decided the risks of trying to

escape were greater than those of surrendering:

• Sun 15th night, 2/Lt Walker and about 20 men and NCOs,

due to the Curlew difficulties

Mon 16th morning, about 30 more were put off by

Japanese aircraft flying low overhead

Later that afternoon, Prentis, Crisp and about 25 others

due number of Japanese troops through boom

Down to 50 - 60 in total, re-arranged between 3 tonkangs

Monday, 16 Feb (Evening)

• Armstrong to command #1 boat, Pickard under his

orders

• Goodman navigator

• Tranter to command #2 boat

• McCulloch to command #3 boat - still working on engine

• No arms, but white flag

• About 10 pm, McCulloch decided engine not sufficiently

serviceable

• #3 boat decided to stay

• About 11:30 pm, #1 and 2 boats pushed off


• Armstrong to command #1 boat, Pickard under his orders, manned mostly by Western Forts men, some from Reping and

others

• Goodman to accompany as navigator; he knew the way

out through the boom so was assigned to the lead boat

Tranter to command #2 boat, manned by his men and some

from Reping

McCulloch to command #3 boat, manned by rest of Reping

and various others – still working on engine

No arms to be carried but white flag in case surrender

required

About 10 pm, McCulloch decided engine not sufficiently

serviceable so complement of #3 boat decided to stay behind

About 11:30 pm, #1 and 2 boats said goodbye, good luck,

started engines, pushed off


#1 Boat: The Bedbug – decided after “adventure” over

One of Tom Pickard’s favourite poems

“The dragon-fly has wings of gold,

The fire-fly wings of flame;

The bedbug has no wings at all,

But it gets there just the same.”

And so it did

Bedbug Comlement Bedbug Complement

(Partial)

Tuesday, 17 Feb (Very Wee Small Hours)

• #2 boat seemed to have engine problems

• Heard it start, travelled slowly

• Never saw #2 boat again

• Joe Cusselle





• Joe Cusselle

• Headed for boom gate

• Wrong turn at boom

• McMillan recognized problem and guided through

boom

• Passed within a few yards of Signal Tower

• nearly 30 hours after the fall of Singapore

• Once out, opened throttles, headed for open sea and

freedom


• Circled around inside the boom for about ½ hour as #2 boat seemed to have engine problems

• Heard it start, travelled slowly in “pitch black”


We know now for certain that Joe Cusselle was in

#2 boat, which was stuck in the mud for several

days, and was then captured – but survived

Trusted to Goodman’s knowledge of the ‘marks’, headed

for boom gate

• Wrong turn at the boom

• McMillan recognized problem and guided through boom

Passed within a few yards of Signal Tower

• nearly 30 hours after the fall of Singapore

Once out, opened throttles, headed for open sea and

freedom

Singapore – Rengat by “Bedbug”

Tuesday, 17 - Tuesday 24 February, 1942

Tue 17th Wed 18th

Thu 19th

Fri 20th

Sat 21st

Sun 22nd

Mon 23rd

Tue 24th

Singapore – Rengat by “Bedbug”

Tuesday, 17 - Tuesday 24 February, 1942

• This picture shows their route from Singapore to Rengat in Sumatra,

day by day

• Blue dots show, more or less, where they overnighted and slept,

green dots show stops during the day

Tuesday, 17 Feb (Wee Small Hours)

Accident at

Peak Island

(now Kusu)

Landed just

after 2 am

Berhala Reping

Tuesday, 17 Feb (Wee Small Hours)

• So, back to Tuesday the 17th, they are out through the

boom gate and on their way to St John Island

• Accident when almost clear of Peak Island (now Kusu

Island)

• “hit something a fourpenny one”

• “engine gave a sort of death rattle and stopped”

• nothing exploded so assumed it was a rock

• rowed round Peak Island and St John East (now

Lazarus Island) and across the gap to St John West

pier . . .

• . . . which “was the mortuary pier for the leper and

mental colony on the island”

• Landed shortly after 2 am

Reping - St John W Same day

Tuesday, 17 Feb (Early Morning)

• Slept until dawn and then started work on the Bedbug

• Luckily only damage was bent propellor shaft, about 12º

• Also luckily had a piece of pipe about 9 ft long

• Straightened shaft by eye – very successful

• Pickard, Armstrong, Goodman found the European

Head Man, so-called “tuan besar”

• Most unhelpful being they met in entire journey

• Seemed terrified of Japanese repercussions

• Repeatedly suggested they return and surrender

• But - eventually, and grudgingly, he suggested a

suitable way out and I’m sure he was glad to see them go

Tuesday, 17 Feb (Mid Morning)

• Left St John West about 9:30 am for St John East,

maybe 600 yards!

Tuesday, 17 Feb (Mid Morning)

• Left St John West about 9:30 am for St John East,

maybe 600 yards!

• Planned to lie under cover until nightfall and then move

on

• Tonkang beached, tied up and camouflaged with

branches and foliage

• Breakfasted and bathed – ah, the joy of water!

• Most of these men hadn’t been in water, or even seen

water for washing, for about a week

• Thin scum of oil on all the sea water around Singapore

• Refilled all containers available with cool drinking water

St John W - St John E Same day

Tuesday, 17 Feb (Afternoon/ Evening)

• Dozed for most of afternoon

• About 10 pm, biscuits and water (no fire after dark)

• Checked all water containers full

• Headed out towards flaming oil at Pulau Sambo just

before midnight

St John E Same day

Wednesday, 18 Feb (Very Wee Small Hours)

Pulau Sambo,

site of wreck

Wednesday, 18 Feb (Very Wee Small Hours)

• Set course by Orion (unable read compass in dark) to

leave Sambo to starboard

• Arrived Pulau Batam just before 2 am

• Anchored close to shore and slept

• Knew Japanese patrols to the west, which was shortest

way to Sumatra

• Intended to get information on islands to the east, to

avoid these patrols

• At dawn, the tide was right out and they found they had

anchored in the middle of “large lumps of rock”

St John E – Batam 1

Wednesday, 18 Feb (Morning)

Pulau Sambo,

site of wreck

Wednesday, 18 Feb (Morning)

• Had to wait until 9 am to get off

• Cruised east, found small kampong about an hour later

• Younger villagers at Sambo scrounging from wreck

• Older villagers extremely helpful, provided fresh

coconuts, pineapples and large tin of biscuits

• Refused to take payment

• Jones, Hall and Armstrong all fairly fluent in Malay . . .

• . . . so able to get rough directions to Sumatra

• Fisherman told them Dutch were still at Tanjung Pinang

and gave instructions to get there (Tanjung = Cape, Point)

Sketched chart, compared with current map of the area

• Not bad at start but Pinang a bit off! If they had had to

get all the way to Pinang with sketch, they probably

wouldn’t have got there

Batam 1 – Batam 2 Same day

Nongsa

Kampong

Rhio

Strait

Wednesday, 18 Feb (Afternoon)

• Villagers estimated 6 - 8 hours to reach Tanjung Pinang

• After rounding Longsa Point, cleared rocks (very nasty)

then to Pulau Omar - warned journey would be rough (it

was)

• There was a burning oil installation on Omar

Tanjung Uban

Wednesday, 18 Feb (Afternoon)

• Villagers estimated 6 - 8 hours to reach Tanjung Pinang

• Left about 11:30 am

• Apparently OK by now to sail in daylight

• Probably didn’t want to try some of this stuff in the

dark

• After rounding Longsa Point, cleared rocks (very nasty)

then to Pulau Omar - warned journey would be rough (it

was)

• Could identify Omar by a burning oil installation there

Batam 2 - Uban Same day

Wednesday, 18 Feb (Afternoon/Evening)

• Found Uban about 3 pm, with pleasant beach nearby

• Estimated Pinang some 3 hours away so decided to

stay at Uban overnight

• Dutch had all left and thoroughly destroyed everything

• Found a concrete floor covered by an awning which

they could use as a sleeping shelter

• Found a pipe with clean drinking water – always useful

• By early evening, the tide was out – found approach had

been between 2 rock ridges, beam plus 4 ft apart

• Lucky they didn’t hit and sink

• One crew member had been lead swinger, got it right

• By 11 pm, tide in enough to refloat Bedbug

• Took her to pier

Tanjung Uban 1 Same day

Thursday, 19 Feb (Morning)

• Breakfast – tea, bacon, eggs – kudos to Hall

• Found some pipes with petrol

• Filled petrol drums and left 9:15 am

Tanjung Uban 2

Thursday, 19 Feb (Morning/Afternoon)

Tanjung Uban

Overtook

Sambo 3

Thursday, 19 Feb (Morning/Afternoon)

• About 11:15 overtook 20 men in a lifeboat (Sambo 3),

using a sail made of a tarpaulin

• They accepted offer of a tow and produced an Admiralty

chart of the waters right down the Rhio Straits – i.e., most

of the way to Sumatra (I actually, wrongly, said Singapore)

• Bedbug crew’s lucky day as unlikely to have found

Pinang without it (see earlier chart)

• Reached Pinang at 1:15 pm, found Dutch had in fact

evacuated previous day

• Only two Dutchmen remained, the Controller (Parleflijt)

and the RC padre (Meyer), who were tremendously helpful

• Provided clothing - and food - and shelter

Uban - Pinang Same day

Thursday, 19 Feb (Afternoon)

• Other boats in anchorage coming and going

• Two officers (from Changi), who had a large party, had

commandeered a local harbour boat

• Intended to return to Batam to collect some people

shipwrecked there, then back to Pinang, then go as a

convoy to Sumatra

• Bedbug crew declined invitation to join them as a convoy

of that many boats would have been rather conspicuous

• Later found out this was an inspired decision – Japanese

landed at Pinang about 4 hours after Bedbug left

Tanjung Pinang 1 Same day

Thursday, 19 Feb (Afternoon)

• Other boats in anchorage coming and going

• Two officers (from Changi), who had a large party, had

commandeered a local harbour boat

• Intended to return to Batam to collect some people

shipwrecked there, then back to Pinang, then go as a convoy

to Sumatra

• Bedbug crew declined invitation to join them as a convoy of

that many boats would have been rather conspicuous

• Later found out this was an inspired decision – Japanese

landed at Pinang about 4 hours after Bedbug left

• Had been able to study an Atlas and knew present location

and where Sumatra was

Pickard took trace off Atlas to supplement chart, which

went only about 40 miles from Pinang

• Trace on the left compares well with map on right


Thursday, 19 Feb (Afternoon/Evening)

• West (ship’s barber) produced razor, brush, bar of soap

• Shaved all Bedbug’s crew

• Controller asked Pickard, Armstrong, Goodman to visit

him, advised of local conditions

• 9:30 pm went to bed

• Armstrong, Goodman badly sunburnt and Pickard’s

leg “playing him up a lot”


Friday, 20 Feb (Morning)

• Rose about 6 am, “ready to sail

anywhere” – really grateful to the 2

Dutchmen for their help to all

visitors

• Controller gave them fresh bread

to take with them

• Left Pinang 9:15 am

• Arrived Alor Island about 4 hours

later

• Originally intended to land on

Pompong but terrain hostile

Pompong

Alor


• Rose about 6 am, “ready to sail anywhere” – really

grateful to the 2 Dutchmen for their help to all visitors

Controller gave them fresh bread to take with them

Left Pinang 9:15 am

• Arrived Alor Island about 4 hours later

• Beach only about 7 ft wide at high water

Originally intended to land on Pompong but terrain

hostile

Cliffs rising sheer out of the water Know now not quite true but that’s what it looked like

• Stan Pyke, HMS Kuala (500-600 civilians), SS Tien Kwang (250 radar), left Singapore 6:15 pm, Fri 13 Feb

• Anchored off Pompong 5:45 am

• Bombed shortly after 11 am, father died (believed drowned)

Pinang - Alor

This bit was deferred until answer to first question

Friday, 20 Feb (Rest of Day and Night)

• Stayed overnight as “no hurry”

• Night was quite uncomfortable due creepy-crawlies

• Lay on beach with feet just above high water mark but

that put heads in jungle

Friday, 20 Feb (Rest of Day and Night)

• Stayed overnight as “no hurry”

• Weren’t aware that Japanese were only about 30 miles

behind them

Night was quite uncomfortable due creepy-crawlies

• Lay on beach with feet just above high water mark but

that put heads in jungle

• All that crept and crawled did so , all over their faces,

all night long - next slide (next day) starts here -

Next morning, rigged up awning over Bedbug

• Sambo 3 crew built rudder to replace the steering

“sweep” they had been using

• Sweep is like a long oar, very hard work to use

Alor Same day

Saturday, 21 Feb

• Rigged up awning over Bedbug, Sambo 3 crew built

rudder to replace their steering “sweep”

• Hoped to hit Sumatra coast due west of Alor (about 2 am)

• Left Alor about 4:20 pm but heading WSW

• Sambo’s rudder

• “Hit” Sumatra coast very hard

Alor

X

Saturday, 21 Feb

Hoped to hit Sumatra coast due west of Alor (about 2

am) to take advantage of what they hoped would be

smooth waters at night

Left Alor about 4:20 pm, but headed WSW to shorten

journey by about 10 miles to save petrol (towing Sambo

increased fuel burn by about 50%)

Sambo’s “new” rudder didn’t work well, came adrift

about 11 pm and was replaced with “sweep”, successful

“Hit” Sumatra coast very hard, but no damage, cast

off Sambo, pushed off the bottom, backed clear,

anchored

Alor – Sumatra coast

Sunday, 22 Feb

(Morning and Afternoon)

• Very uncomfortable night for all

• Engine completely saturated with sea water

• 2 hours to dry engine but able to move on at 9 am

• Set course S by E, enquiring how to reach Indragiri River

• Answers were anywhere from 1 to 10 hours

• Early afternoon had to cast Sambo off as very short of

petrol and no sail (Sambo had tarp for sail)

Perigi Raja

Cast off

Sambo 3

Sunday, 22 Feb (Morning and Afternoon)

• Very uncomfortable night for all, waves slapping against

the stern

Engine completely saturated with sea water (came in

through exhaust)

• 2 hours to dry engine but able to move on at 9 am

Set course S by E, enquiring from everbody they came

across how to reach Indragiri River

• Answers in first half hour were anywhere from 1 to 10

hours

Early afternoon had to cast Sambo off as very short of

petrol and no sail (Sambo had tarp for sail)

Sumatra coast – Perigi Raja 1

Sunday, 22 Feb (Afternoon)

• Running out of water (first time since leaving St John)

• Also needed guide as river very wide at mouth

• Went off to look for both – and found them

• For $5, got water and a guide to Perigi Raja (first village

up river)

• Arrived there at 8:30 pm

Sumatra coast – Perigi Raja 2 Same day

Sunday, 22 Feb (Evening)

• Perigi Raja was a very large Kampong built entirely on poles to clear the mangrove swamp

• They were given written instructions for all members British

and Imperial Forces to proceed ASAP to Rengat

• Decided to stay overnight and go to Rengat on Monday

• Tied up alongside Sambo, who had arrived earlier

• Learned that Rengat about 105 miles up river, not 40 as

originally told

• Bad news was they had only some 5 gallons of petrol left

but were told available at Tembilahan, 30 miles away

• To be safe, got 1 extra gallon of petrol for 11 packets of

biscuits and 2 tins of jam

Perigi Raja 1

Same day

Monday, 23 Feb (Small Hours and Morning)

• Over night, Bedbug started to take in water at “an

alarming rate”

• Tide was falling and stem firmly settled on top of the

pole to which painter attached

• Hanging at rakish angle - all hands to the pump after

somehow untying or cutting painter

• Left Perigi Raja at 4:50 am, arrived Tembilahan just

before 9 am, following Sambo, which was being towed by

a small river steamer

Perigi Raja

Monday, 23 Feb (Small Hours and Morning)

• Over night, Bedbug started to take in water at “an alarming rate”

• Tide was falling and stem firmly settled on top of the

pole to which painter attached

• Hanging at a rakish angle - all hands to the pump after

somehow untying or cutting the painter

Left Perigi Raja at 4:50 am, arrived Tembilahan just before

9 am, following Sambo, which was being towed by a small

river steamer

Perigi Raja - Tembilahan

Monday, 23 Feb (Morning and Afternoon)

• No petrol available at Tembilahan

• Got a tow in the same group as Sambo

• About 1 pm, pulled into Sunggei Sala for supplies

• Left about 2:30 pm, still under tow

Perigi Raja

Monday, 23 Feb (Morning and Afternoon)

• Bad news – there was no petrol available at Tembilahan

• Got a tow in the same group as Sambo

• First time they were not under their own power

• About 1 pm, pulled into Sunggei Sala to get whatever

supplies they could

• Very successful – more kudos for Hall for his

bargaining skills

• Left about 2:30 pm, still under tow

Tembilahan – Rengat 1 Same day

Monday, 23 Feb (Afternoon)

• Cookson (Ship’s Doctor) sick

• Self diagnosed as malaria

• Tied up for the night en route to Rengat

Perigi Raja

Monday, 23 Feb (Afternoon)

• Cookson (Ship’s Doctor) became sick late in the

afternoon

• Self diagnosed as malaria (suffered before), dosed

with quinine tablets in supplies brought from Pulau

Brani

• They were aiming to arrive in Rengat at about 10 am

• Tied up en route for the night

Tembilahan – Rengat 2 Same day

Tuesday, 24 Feb (Morning)

• Cookson much better

• About 5 miles from Rengat, unhooked from junk and

completed journey under own power

• Arrived Rengat about noon

Perigi Raja

Tuesday, 24 Feb (Morning)

• Cookson much better the next morning

• About 5 miles from Rengat, they unhooked from junk

and completed journey under their own power

• Actually arrived Rengat about noon the next day

“And so, in a more or less dignified manner, we

completed about 300 miles in our little Bedbug. Not very

comfortable at any time, but never uncomfortable enough

to warrant that much abused word ‘hardship’. Never

short, in the real meaning of the word, of food or water.

And having a far greater share of good luck than we had

any right to expect.”

Rengat

Tuesday, 24 Feb (Midday)

“And so, in a more or less dignified manner, we

completed about 300 miles in our little Bedbug. Not very

comfortable at any time, but never uncomfortable enough

to warrant that much abused word ‘hardship’. Never

short, in the real meaning of the word, of food or water.

And having a far greater share of good luck than we had

any right to expect.”

Tuesday, 24 Feb – Tuesday 10 Mar

• From Rengat they were taken by truck, bus and train to

Padang and then by ship to Colombo, Ceylon and Bombay

• 2 days at Ayer Moelek, a rubber estate near Rengat

• 1 day at Sawa Loentho, head of railway to Padang,

coastal port

• 2 days in Padang

• 5 days at sea to

Ceylon

• Doctor checked

Pickard’s leg

• 1 day in Colombo

• Left Pickard in

Hospital – not

the end of his story

• 5 days at sea to Bombay

“Bedbug”

Unable find reference to Ayer

Moelek, Sawa Loentho or railway

on any map or search engine

• That’s almost, but not quite, the end of our story

By some time in 1943, now-Major Thomas Edward

Pickard was the Officer Commanding the 15th Coast

Battery in Trincomalee, in Ceylon

And now-Captain Albert Charles Goodman was his 2nd

in command


44458, Capt., RA


164295, Major, RA

Questions ???

Questions and answers are on the

following slides

Q. Could I give the “human interest” bits about Joe Cusselle and

Stan Pyke that I had mentioned in passing?

A. Joe Cusselle: I showed the next slide (which repeated an

earlier one). I asked Peter Stubbs whether he knew if Joe was

still alive and, if so, how I could contact him. Peter told me that

the last time he was in contact, Joe was living at the Royal

Hospital in Chelsea, in other words, was a Chelsea Pensioner.

So I called the hospital and enquired whether Joe was still

there and, if so, whether it might be possible to talk to him.

The sad reply was that he had died just a few months earlier

(audible sigh of disappointment from the audience) – so that

was that.

Stan Pyke: Move on two slides.





• Joe Cusselle

Q. Could I give the “human interest” bits about Joe Cusselle and Stan Pyke that I had mentioned in

passing?

A. Joe Cusselle: I showed the next slide (which repeated an earlier one). I asked Peter Stubbs whether

he knew if Joe was still alive and, if so, how I could contact him. Peter told me that the last time he

was in contact, Joe was living at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, in other words, was a Chelsea

Pensioner. So I called the hospital and enquired whether Joe was still there and, if so, whether it

might be possible to talk to him. The sad reply was that he had died just a few months earlier (audible

sigh of disappointment from the audience) – so that was that.

Stan Pyke: I showed the next slide (which also repeated an earlier

one) and told the story from Stan’s website

http://www.sgpyke.co.uk/dad/pompong%20trip.htm about how his

father had been evacuated from Singapore on Friday, 13 Feb

only to die when the ship he was on (the SS Tien Kwang) was

bombed by the Japanese while anchored the next morning off

Pompong Island

I then read out a footnote from my father’s report: “We later

discovered that Pompong had been inhabited at that time by a

crowd of refugees, including some women, who had been

bombed, wrecked and sunk on the way through. When we

passed there was no sign of them”. I found from a list of

people arriving at Ayer Moelek that at least come of those who

survived the shipwrecks had at least got there

http://www.sgpyke.co.uk/dad/pompong trip.htm


• Rose about 6 am, “ready to sail

anywhere” – really grateful to the 2

Dutchmen for their help to all

visitors

• Controller gave them fresh bread

to take with them

• Left Pinang 9:15 am

• Arrived Alor Island about 4 hours

later

• Originally intended to land on

Pompong but terrain hostile

Pompong

Alor

Q. Had I been back to Singapore and been to some of these places

first hand and, if not, would I like to?

A. Yes, I have been to Singapore but at the time knew nothing of

this. I spent 3 or 4 days with my wife and did some sightseeing

and spent a lot of time in jewellery shops looking for a digital

watch (laughter). Do I want to go back and visit these places?

I don’t have the same incentive as Stan Pyke. He wanted to be

on Pompong at the exact time his father died on the 67th

anniversary. My father escaped; I don’t need to do that and I

have other priorities in my life so, no, I probably won’t.

Q. What was the name of the island in the top right corner where

they stopped?

A. Lazarus Island? At the time the two islands were St. John East

and St. John West. East is now Lazarus and West is now

simply St. John

Q. I was thinking more of where they met the two Dutchmen.

A. Oh, that was Tanjung Uban but the name of the Island – now

you’re testing me (Ed note – it was actually Tanjung Pinang

and the island was Pulau Bintam)

Q. Had my father ever talked about this experience or was it

difficult?

A. No, it wasn’t difficult but he didn’t talk about the details. What

he did say was that he got out 30 minutes before the Japs

came in. Clearly he didn’t as they got away 30 hours after

capitulation. Perhaps what he meant was that they got away

half an hour before the Japs came into Blakang Mati. When I

was in my late teens, either Pickard or Richey came to visit. I

think it was Pickard and my father still had the greatest

admiration for this man.

Q. Did your father stay in the army after the war?

A. No. He was in the Territorial Army before the war, joined up

because of the war and resigned when it was all over. By then

he was a Major and he never ever wanted to be called Major

Goodman; he was Mr. Goodman

Q. What happened to the chap whose leg was injured by the

boat?

A. That was Pickard, the chap right at the end. (Showed the next

slide). It looks all right there.

Q. How many escaped out of the whole garrison?

A. I don’t know the answer. I’ve read that over 80,000 were

captured but how many got away or were killed, I don’t know

that number


44458, Capt., RA


164295, Major, RA

Q. How many men started on that boat and how many finished

there? And how did they feed themselves (wildlife)?

A. No mention of wildlife. Lucky to get a lot of food at places they

visited en route, had huge supply of M&V (meat and veg),

drank enormous quantities of tea. The journey took 8 days

(left Tue, 17th and got to Rengat Tue, 24th). There were 17 men

in the boat and all 17 men made it. One proviso – Cookson, the

ship’s doctor, his wife was Australian and had got out earlier

so, when they got to Padang, the port, he joined up with a

bunch of Australians in the hopes that he would get back to

Australia and find his wife. No idea whether he did.

Several slides from an earlier draft were cut out due

to time considerations. 20 of them are included here

in case they may be of interest to readers

• Often described as the “Father of Singapore”

• Started at age of 14 working as a clerk in the British

East India Company

• In March of 1818, aged 37, appointed Governor

General of Bencoolen, Sumatra

• In January of 1819, established a post in Singapore,

where there was no Dutch presence

• In February, secured the transfer of control to the East

India Company

Bencoolen

Population

• negligible in 1819

• 53,000 in 1850

• 311,000 in 1911

• 700,000 in 1938

Malaysian

Peninsula

Hong

Kong

Manila

Colombo and

Trincomalee,

Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

Sumatra

Bencoolen

(Bengkulu)

Padang

Bombay

(Mumbai)

French

Indo-China

Source: Farndale

Singora was also

called Songkhla

Sunday, 15 Feb (Morning)

• Bright and clear

• Terrific hammering of Singapore recommenced

• L/Cpl Stanley, RE, sought permission to get his engine

room staff away to Sumatra – Richey OKd as they were

highly trained and valuable and their job was done

• Stanley and one of his men swam to a drifting canoe,

paddled to Pulau Brani and came back with an

undamaged tonkang

• Two Indian Army officers arrived from ??, said they had

been ordered to escape, were looking for water transport

for themselves and between 130 and 160 men, many

wounded, waiting at Jardine’s steps in Singapore

• Story seemed genuine so Stanley’s tonkang given to

them

• Last seen disappearing in distance, nowhere near

Singapore harbour – oops!

Friday, 13 Feb (2)

The Demolitions - Preparation

• 30 minutes notice would be given

• To prepare, had 150 cartridges opened in #2 magazine

• Cordite packed around 10 lb gelignite with primer,

detonator and fuze (sic)

• Pickard detailed officers and men to:

• smash up all searchlights and equipment in control

towers

• destroy guns, magazine and engine room

• marshall men with all small arms, machine guns,

hand grenade, rations etc

• Pickard would arrange for evacuation of Berlayer and

Hantu crews to Blakang Mati (after demolitions) then join

forces with Capt. Bill Richey at Berhala Reping

Saturday, 14 Feb (Wee Small Hours)

The Demolitions – Action (1)

• Men, with required stores, marched down to the pier

• Prentis and an NCO smashed everything in the control

towers and threw telephone sets into the sea

• All men were clear of the Fort area and Prentis was

ordered to:

• tell L/Cpl Stanley (RE) to smash up the engine room

• take charge of men on the pier

• shove off without Pickard and Melhuish if they

weren’t out in 15 minutes

Saturday, 14 Feb (Wee Small Hours)

The Demolitions – Action (2)

• Pickard and Melhuish did the demolitions:

• drove a brass drill shell with a large driving band

down the muzzle of each gun with a 14 lb sledge and

burred the mouth of the rifling over it

• loaded a high explosive shell with delayed action fuze

with percussion cartridge-tube in each gun and

attached a long lanyard

• blew C2 gun first, taking cover in the RA store

• about 10” blown off muzzle and stump split back

about another 10”

• then blew C1; not quite such good results but gun

was rendered useless /continued

Tuesday, 24 Feb (Afternoon)

and Wednesday, 25 Feb

• Transported to Ayer Moelek (rubber estate)

• Each party given a serial number on arrival

• Moved out when transport for that serial number was

available

• All food handed over to a common pool

• Well fed, bathed, laundered, slept

• Issue made of soap, cigarette papers, tobacco

• Duties were assigned to each party each day

• 237 men left camp on Tuesday, 233 Wednesday, only 212

left Wednesday night so hopeful would be out Thursday

Thursday, 26 Feb

• Hopes fulfilled, left on a 14 seater bus about 10:30 am

• Steering was “exciting”

• Arrived Sawa Loentho about 10 pm, grateful still to be

sound of limb

• This was terminus of railway to Padang

• Caught up here with the Bill Richey group who left

Blakang Mati the night of the 15th

• Haversack returned by Richey, which included gold

cigarette case (passed on to Guy a few days before his

wedding and passed on to son Mark the day before his)

• Given a good meal of rice, stew, tea

• Informed that 250 due out at 4 am next day and the rest

probably early afternoon

Friday, 27 Feb

• Arrived at station platform 12:30 pm

• Train left 12:55

• Lack of organization meant only 230 men on train that

could easily have taken 300 – very comfortable for those

230

• Arrived in Padang

at 6:45 pm

• About 150 troops

billeted at Chong

Hwa High School

• Beer available at

canteen, expensive

but OK if cold

• Rumours were evacuation to Java in next few days

“Bedbug”

Unable find reference to Ayer

Moelek, Sawa Loentho or railway

on any map or search engine

Saturday, 28 Feb

• Mooched around Padang

Sunday, 1 March

• Up early to be ready packed at 8 am

• Cookson (Ship’s Doctor) had transferred to a party of

Australians; wife had already been evacuated to Australia

• About 3 pm advised leaving from station to docks 4 pm

• Secondary rumour that might be going to Ceylon/India

• Train to docks, embarked on 2 destroyers (Scout and

Tenedos) to be transferred to cruisers waiting out to sea

• Scout short of fuel, back to dock 8 pm to refuel, 4 hours

Monday, 2 March

• Away (again) 1:45 am

• Tenedos had already transferred her refugees to Hobart

• Scout refugees split 50/50 between Danae and Dragon

• All “Bedbug” crowd (except Guest) transferred to Danae

• Confirmed Trincomalee, Ceylon was destination - yippee

Tuesday, 3 March

• Made contact with Hobart, now 3 cruisers, 2 destroyers

in convoy

Wednesday, 4 March

• At sea

Thursday, 5 March

• Destination changed to Colombo

• Anchored there just after 5 pm

• Driven to St. Bridget’s Convent, collection centre

• Pickard went straight to hospital to have his leg fixed

• Armstrong, Jones and Hall were merged with the rest of

the Malaya Volunteers

Friday – Tuesday, 6 – 10 March

• Aboard Chitral to Bombay

• Armstrong, Jones and Hall back with “Bedbug” crowd

the fall of singapore...•i have to mention this fine fellow who had a very special place in my...

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